Every time I finished an EC90 session, there was one more thing on the to-do list: a visit to my GP for a Ziextenzo injection. It had to happen within 24 to 48 hours after each chemo round, no skipping, no postponing. Four rounds of EC90 meant four of these visits.

The timing was never convenient. After EC90, all I wanted was to go home and let my body recover in peace. But the injection could not happen right away either. Guidelines say at least 24 hours after chemo, and no later than 72 hours, so I had a narrow window to work with. When I first received my full EC90 treatment plan, the hospital handed me all four chemo dates at once. I immediately booked all four GP appointments for Ziextenzo in one go. Anyone who knows me knows I run a tight calendar at work, and treatment had become my full-time job now. Same rules applied. Get the dates, block the slots, done.

So what is Ziextenzo actually doing? Chemotherapy is aggressive not just on cancer cells but on your immune system too. It knocks down your neutrophils, the white blood cells responsible for fighting infection. If your counts drop too low before the next chemo round, treatment gets delayed. And delays matter. Keeping the schedule is part of keeping the treatment effective. Ziextenzo works by stimulating your bone marrow to produce more neutrophils quickly, essentially helping your body recover fast enough to stay on track.

My GP gave me the injection in my belly, alternating sides each time. He mentioned I could self-inject at home if I wanted, and technically I had done belly injections before during my egg freezing process. But this felt different. That was a different chapter of my life, and I was doing those shots alone out of practicality. This time, I just felt safer having a professional do it. No strong reason I can put into words, it just felt right.

The injection itself was very quick, barely noticeable. The side effect I had been warned about was bone ache, and I did get it. When the body is suddenly told to produce white blood cells rapidly, it puts pressure on the bones. The best way I can describe it is that deep, dull ache you feel after a day of very hard physical work. Not sharp, not unbearable, just there. It varied each time in how long it lasted, and I simply waited it out without any painkillers. I imagine the experience differs from person to person, so do not let it scare you if you are about to go through this.

What I never felt directly was Ziextenzo working. There was no moment where I thought, yes, this is doing something. But the proof showed up in my blood results every single time. My white blood cell counts were consistently good before each new EC90 round, and I never had a single treatment delay because of low counts. In cancer treatment, that kind of invisible win is actually everything. A delay is not just an inconvenience, it can affect how well the whole treatment works. The fact that I sailed through all four rounds on schedule, that was Ziextenzo doing its job quietly in the background.